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At Freeway Lanes, families and friends bond over their shared passion for slippery shoes as they send balls careening down 18 lanes in pursuit of the elusive 300. Friday night Rock and Glow bowling sets the alley alive in a whirlwind of music, colorful lights, and glowing pins, each activated by the superpowers of a radioactive ball. After each 10-frame game, bowlers can retire to the Starlight Lounge for savory grill fare or a round of pool.

Test your aim and technique bowling at Amf Rodeo Lanes in Clovis.
Sit down for a savory meal at their in-house restaurant.
Don't leave the kids at home — youngsters will love the family-friendly activities at this alley just as much as mom and dad.
Parking is plentiful, so guests can feel free to bring their vehicles.

Compete with your friends in an exciting game of bowling at AMF Sierra Lanes in Fresno.
For a well-crafted dish, be sure to visit the restaurant at this alley.
Go ahead and bring your rug rats with you — this alley has kid-friendly policy.
Parking is plentiful, so patrons can feel free to bring their vehicles.

Hours of entertainment await at Hanford's Kings County Bowl so pick a lane and get to bowling!
No matter what you're hungry for, the menu at this alley promises the perfect dish for you.
No need to splurge on a baby sitter — tots will be right at home at this alley.
Parking is plentiful, so guests can feel free to bring their vehicles.

Switch up your Saturday night and head to Valley Bowl for some clean cut bowling fun in Madera.
Every great place has a restaurant on the side. When you come to this alley, it's no different.
Families will feel right at home at this alley with its kid-friendly atmosphere.
Don't spend time searching for parking — visitors are welcome to use the adjoining lot.

Perfect for pros or the gutter ball champion, Porterville Lanes and Sports Center in Porterville shows everyone a great time.
If a bite's all you're after, then you'll want to stop by this alley for a delicious fill of their home-cooked food.
If you're searching for a great place to hangout and tip back a few, Porterville Lanes and Sports Center is it.
Dine at Porterville Lanes and Sports Center and keep your car safely parked in a nearby lot.

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In bowling, it’s not whether you win or lose, but how many times you earn the right to do a celebratory dance in front of your friends. Of course, if you ask PBA (Professional Bowlers Association) member and coach Bill Spigner, you’ll get a slightly different opinion. “Bowling is the best social recreation sport we have in the country,” Spigner says. “In no other sport [would you have] a 5-year-old competing with a grandmother.” Bowling may be easy for nearly anyone to pick up, but there’s always room for improvement. We asked Spigner to share a few pointers on how to shape up your game and start racking up those strikes.Select a Ball with Snug Finger Holes
Though ball weight does make a difference (heavier balls knock down pins with more force), ill-fitting finger holes are the surest way to steer your game into the gutter. According to Spigner, “a ball could be 8 pounds but feel like 15 pounds if the fit isn’t right.” Don’t be afraid to swap your ball for another if you can’t grip it well.
Practice on the Same Lane for a Slight Home Court Advantage
If you bowl a lot at the same alley—or even better, the same lane—you’ve probably picked up on how the space affects your game. That’s because “the lanes aren’t totally flat from front to back and side to side. [It’s hard to] see the variables in the playing surface,” Spigner says, but they exist. With practice and patience, you can learn to rule your favorite lane. Just don’t break out the fur-lined cape and scepter until you’ve earned it.
The 7-10 Split is as Hard as It’s Hyped Up to Be
To score a spare on the dreaded 7-10 split, your ball has to knock one far rear pin across the lane and into the other far rear pin. This is about as hard as it sounds—“some professionals have never made it,” claims Spigner. If you knock down just one of the pins, you’re doing pretty well.
Mind Your Manners and Don’t Get in the Way
There aren’t too many rules you have to worry about breaking, but keeping things classy deserves its own reward. According to Spigner, it’s important to keep an eye out for what’s happening in the lanes next to yours. Avoid bowling at the same time as your neighbor, as synchronized bowling is not yet an officially recognized sport.
Throw a Hook (The Easy Way)
Spigner claims that learning how to spin a ball in a hook pattern is the best way to consistently earn strikes. It’s not a quick or easy skill to master, but thankfully there’s another way. “An awful lot of people pick up a light ball, insert two fingers without a thumb, and palm the ball to get the spin and the hook,” says the coach. “It’s much more difficult to develop a traditional release with the thumb in the ball than without it.”
Even Pros Get the Blues
Though Spigner started bowling at age 13 and was scoring a 242 (out of 300) average at his peak, the PBA professional still has his up and down games. “I’m not shooting for a specific score, but to make every shot as good as it can be,” he says. “The only consistency in bowling is inconsistency.”
Read More:Five Types of Bowling and Where to Play ThemCanadians prefer five-pin and baseball players seem partial to duckpin. What style of bowling best suits you?

The sport of bowling dates back thousands of years, with everyone from ancient Egyptians to Roman legionnaires captivated by its more primitive forms. There’s something timeless and altogether human, it would seem, about hurling a ball at a row of inert objects.
Today, most Americans play a variation known as ten-pin bowling, in which the objective is to bulldoze 10 pins in pursuit of a perfect 300. Plenty of regional variations exist, however, and most are interesting enough to warrant a round or two. We’ve investigated five common (and not-so-common) types of bowling and found five alleys where you can try them out.
Ten-Pin
Known to most Americans simply as “bowling,” ten-pin is the most ubiquitous style of the game. To play this old standby, just roll a heavy ball down the 60-foot lane and hope it crashes into the 10 penguin-shaped pins, each of which measures 15 inches tall and 4.7 inches wide.
You Should Play It If: You need to bowl and you need to bowl right now. In 2012, Businessweek estimated that there were 4,061 ten-pin bowling alleys across the US, and more have surely sprung up since.
Where to Play: Brooklyn Bowl, Williamsburg, New York. The nation’s only 100% wind-powered alley boasts 16 lanes, beer from next door’s Brooklyn Brewery, and live shows from the likes of Kanye West in the city where modern ten-pin was invented.
Nine-Pin
Nine-pin bowling (also known as kegeln) doesn’t differ greatly from ten-pin. Sure, there’s one less pin and the slightly smaller balls don’t contain finger holes, but otherwise the same rules generally apply. Nine-pin was actually the most popular style of bowling in the US until the early 20th century, when authorities linked it to organized crime and thus made it illegal. Kegeln remains popular in Europe and enjoys a cult-like following in Central Texas, thanks to the large German population that settled there.
You Should Play It If: You can’t split to save your life. The pins are connected by one continuous string, making it a whole lot easier to knock down two that aren’t next to each other.
Where to Play: Bulverde Bowling Club, Bulverde, Texas. This club emphasizes the camaraderie that nine-pin players feel the game inherently promotes. Friends and families are always welcome, and inner-club trophy bowling competitions are held twice yearly.
Five-Pin
Everything’s a little different in Canada, and bowling is no exception. In this variation, five pins are arranged in a V shape, and each is worth a unique number of points. Players toss a hand-sized ball down the alley, trying to hit the center pin for 5 points and cause a domino effect to clean up 15 total points. It’s possible to achieve a perfect 450-point game, but that task is even more difficult than nailing a 300 in ten-pin.
You Should Play It If: You’re in Canada.
Where to Play: Shamrock Bowl, Toronto, Ontario. Opened in 1952, this alley is proud to be the oldest five-pin establishment in the city where five-pin was invented.
Candlepin
Candlepin was invented in Massachusetts in 1880, and it’s still extremely popular throughout New England. The balls are small (about 4.5 inches in diameter) and the pins are thin, like candles. Players roll the ball three times per frame as opposed to twice, but don’t let this or the setup’s cuteness fool you: the candle-like pins are frustratingly hard to tip over.
You Should Play It If: You’re tired of gloating. The highest recorded candlepin score in a single game was 245 out of 300.
Where to Play: South Boston Candlepin, Boston, Massachusetts. This old-school alley flaunts nostalgic touches such as manual scoring, rickety wooden ball returns, and (best of all) cheap beer.
Duckpin
The middle child between ten-pin and candlepin, duckpin maintains ten-pin’s pin shape and basic rules while adopting candlepin’s lighter weight and three-ball frames. Since the pins are short and stout, it’s easier to get a spare or strike than in candlepin. Even so, the highest sanctioned score is still only 279 out of 300.
You Should Play It If: You’re a fan of baseball. Orioles Hall-of-Famer Wilbert Robinson claimed to have invented duckpin bowling, and Babe Ruth once called it his favorite sport.
Where to Play: Action Duckpin Bowl inside Fountain Square Brewing Co., Indianapolis, Indiana. This midcentury-style alley achieves a retro atmosphere with ‘50s-esque jukeboxes and a soda jerk at the snack bar.
Pick your preferred style and check Groupon for bowling deals in your city.